In the fall of 1953, Brown—now a member of Lionel Hampton’s band—left for a tour of Europe and North Africa.

Before they left, Hampton reminded the band of his rule against making records on the side.

The practice was common among musicians in big bands who wanted to earn extra cash and a name for themselves during their down time.

The problem for band leaders, of course, was the risk of losing their biggest stars if the sideline records became hits.

Despite Hampton’s firm directive, Brown, Jones, Farmer, Gryce, trombonist Jimmy Cleveland and alto saxophonist Anthony Ortega slipped out of hotels in Stockholm and Paris to record with local jazz musicians.

The recordings turned up on European labels—Metronome and Vogue—and the new sound made them all instant stars.

According to a 2002 obituary of Lionel Hampton in The Independent of London:

“[Hampton’s] 1953 band came to Europe, and it included the young trumpeter Clifford Brown, by then a jazz phenomenon, although Hampton seemed not to notice.

Under the iron fist of Gladys Hampton, the musicians were instructed that they were not allowed to record unless under Lionel’s leadership.

A guard was placed in the lobby of their Paris hotel to prevent any recalcitrant sidemen from escaping.

In the middle of one night, Clifford Brown and Quincy Jones left by a rear bedroom window and went to a studio where Brown cut a batch of recordings which were to change the face of jazz trumpet playing.

Presumably they also supplemented the measly number of dollars which had escaped from Gladys’s fist as salary.”
~Marc Myers

There are six songs and six alternate takes (including three versions apiece of “I Can Dream, Can’t I” and “You’re a Lucky Guy”) but each of Brownie’s solos are different and his tone is so warm that every performance is well worth hearing.

Ironically the finest solo, a classic version of “It Might as Well Be Spring,” was improvised in one take.
~Marc Myers